Gopa Bhattacharyya (kolkata)
In a pond, three fishes ruled as king, minister, and general.
The king spent his days on the throne, enjoying comfort and luxury.
After a while, the minister and the general grew resentful.
According to them:
“We are the ones doing all the work, while the king only waves his stick and expects every detail to be reported to him. This can’t go on any longer!”
They were the ones looking after the fishes, standing by everyone in times of trouble, keeping watch over everything—and it was becoming too much for just the two of them.
One day, after discussing among themselves, they decided to boycott the king.
The king soon noticed that no one was reporting any issues to him anymore.
The minister and general were handling everything on their own.
At last, the king woke up from his slumber.
But by then, the royal treasury was nearly empty—
everything had gone into the coffers of the minister and the general.
It felt as if the sky had collapsed on the king’s head.
“How will I get my kingdom back now?” he thought.
Day and night he pondered, until finally, he came up with a plan.
An idea struck him—and this time he decided to put it into action.
A change of fortune was bound to happen.
The king chose five fishes from the pond and set them up against the minister and the general, giving them supervisory powers. Then he made a formal announcement.
This sudden change caused an uproar among the fishes.
Seeing their seats of power shaking, the minister and general were taken aback.
The king then formed a new council of ministers and became active on the throne once again.
He began instructing the newcomers on their duties…
Next…
The king, entrusting the new ones with the responsibility of managing the royal treasury, once again reshuffled his cards.
He resolved firmly to uphold his monarchy:
“This time they will truly understand what strategy means—down to their bones.”
Meanwhile, the newcomers began working with great enthusiasm and energy.
Becoming unexpectedly active and demonstrating their cleverness, they soon started winning everyone’s hearts.
Seeing this, the king grew anxious again.
“Oh no! The outcome is turning out to be the opposite. Even the subjects won’t respect me anymore. What should I do now?”
Once again, the king lost his sleep at night.
He changed his game plan.
He summoned the old minister and general, telling them that their seats would be restored.
Overjoyed, the two of them rushed to the royal court.
The king explained to them:
“No matter how active the newcomers are, they lack maturity. I will prove it. If I can instigate conflict among them, victory will be ours.”
Thus, the king believed the old kingdom would be restored once again.
After all, it was the brilliance of the king’s mind.
The two, delighted, praised the king and said:
“You were the king, and you shall remain the king. We will be your loyal servants for life!!”
